Tools such as shovels (including snow shovels, spades, and scoops), forks, brooms, hoes, and the like typically have handles comprising a single straight shaft which is secured to a head of the tool along a central axis of the tool head. One problem with such tool handles arises when the user must lift the tool head off of the ground in order to dump or expel a load therefrom. To lift the tool, the user must bend over at the waist, grasp the handle near the tool head, and lift the tool using his back. Lifting with the back in this manner often causes strain or injury to the user's back. Previous attempts to address this problem include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,499,852, 5,921,600 and 6,062,619, which describe auxiliary handles for attachment to a single shaft tool handle, the auxiliary handles being intended to extend upwardly from the primary tool handle shaft so that the user does not have to bend over as far in order to lift the tool head. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 171,325 discloses a drag rake handle having a pair of limbs mounted at an acute angle to one another and having an auxiliary handle mounted between the limbs. The auxiliary handle may be mounted so as to extend upwardly from the limbs.
None of these previous attempts to provide tool handles which facilitate lifting appear to have gained widespread use, and therefore there remains a need for an ergonomically designed tool handle which is relatively easy to use and which facilitates lifting.